Bensalem charges 18 more in school district scandal

BENSALEM, Pa. — Eighteen current and former local school district workers were hauled in today and charged with workplace thefts of time and equipment totaling more than $1.5 million.

All through the day Wednesday, police were rounding up the suspects and bringing them before Judge Leonard Brown for arraignment on a variety of theft charges.

These latest arrests bring to 20 the number of people charged in connection with a scheme that police say went as high up the chain as former business manager Jack Myers, who stepped down after his arrest last year.

Police say employees were buying tires and batteries for district vehicles on the taxpayers’ dime, then reselling those items on the open market to line their own pockets.

Bensalem Public Safety Director Fred Harran called the crimes “well planned. All of these individuals, all working together to get this merchandise out and to get some cash coming in, when gone unchecked for so many years they continued to do it. And those days are over.”

Harran said the thefts have been going on for 10 years or more, and that the investigation is ongoing.